Secrets of the Past
by ada69
Summary: "You can often look to the past for answers to the future." As the secrets of 1,000 years begin to unravel before their eyes, Jake and the gang must once again face old enemies while overcoming new challenges. WDS sequel, I don't own ADJL.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue **

The hot, humid night air hung over the Isle of Draco like a blanket, silently warning all life on the island that a storm was rapidly approaching.

It was quiet. Sensing the danger, every animal on the island was in hiding for the night.

This… was the still before the fight; the dawn before the day; the calm before the storm.

The monotone ring of the midnight bell spilt through the silence like a knife, ringing slowly and steadily eleven times more before all fell silent once again.

And as two hooded figures watched the black clouds roll in, the first crack of thunder echoed into the night. It was then that they felt it was time to make their move.

They moved quickly and quietly toward their destination, carefully checking and double checking to make sure that not a trace of their presence had been left behind.

They stopped just short of a small cave alongside the shore before they ducked behind a nearby bush to catch their breath.

As it was incredibly small, the cave was nearly impossible to spot without the prior knowledge of its existence. It had been cleverly hidden by the overgrown branches of an old tree. In addition, two bushes to the left and right helped to cover up a small portion of the hole. Combined with the blackness of the night, the small cavern was nearly impossible to see.

In general, it was the perfect hiding place.

As the gap between the thunder and the lightening grew smaller and smaller, the intruders began to work faster. They didn't have much time. The longer they remained, the greater the chance of them getting caught.

"Remember the plan," a male voice whispered roughly, "we must get in and out quickly. Who knows what kind of traps this area of the island contains."

"I'm well aware," Chang replied coolly. "I was once a member of the council, remember?"

Yanak ignored her reply. "Let's get this over with," he gazed up at the sky as the first drop of rain fell onto his forehead.

He was well aware of the waves crashing down mercilessly on the shore, and he felt the wind pick up with tremendous force.

"I've got a feeling this storm will leave its mark on the island," Yanak spoke aloud this time. Any spy for the council wouldn't be able to hear him over the sounds of thunder, wind, and waves combined. He looked up to find the clouds parted in one particular area, giving them a clear view of the bright full moon that hung overhead.

For that brief moment, it cast an eerie shadow over the land. But as quickly as it had appeared, the moon disappeared behind the thick blackness of the storm clouds.

"Are you ready?" He asked Chang.

She merely nodded in reply. "I do believe it's time."

"When we leave here today," she continued slowly, "I will finally have what should be rightfully mine."

***Shrugs* It's a prologue. It's supposed to be short. Sometimes. Only if it fits I guess. Most of my chapters will be about the length of those in my past fanfics. **

**So I am glad to present to you my summer project. :D This is the sequel to When Death Strikes, which was the sequel to When Darkness Falls. So if you haven't read those, you will be extremely confused reading this. Lol. **

**I would also like to inform/warn you all that I now have a job. I'm gonna try to go to my summer schedule…which is updating every three days, but it might be a little harder now. We will see how things go. **

**Well, I think that's about it. Thanks for reading and hope you guys all enjoy this! :D **

**~ada69**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: Summer Begins**

"_The clock is broken,"_ Jake thought to himself. _"It has to be." _

It was late May, and the first signs of summer were beginning to appear everywhere. It was a beautiful day. The afternoon sun sat high above in the sky, reminding Jake that he was still stuck in school for another half an hour.

He gazed blankly at his unfinished final in front of him. Geometry was by far his worst subject. He just didn't understand why anyone would ever need to know the Pythagorean Theorem. Did they not have computers that could calculate that?

Jake glanced back up at the clock, which still hadn't moved a bit. He sighed before picking up his pencil and calculator. He had been stuck on the same blasted problem for about 15 minutes now.

As this was the last class period of the day and the school year for that matter, all of the students in Fillmore High were patiently awaiting the final bell.

Eventually, that bell did come, and students of all ages rushed out of their classrooms to celebrate with their friends in the hallway.

Jake kept his head low as he felt paper planes and God knows what else wiz by his head. After plowing through large groups of people standing in the middle of the hallway, he finally reached his locker.

Quickly and carelessly, he threw the contents of his locker into his backpack. After a long day of finals, he just wanted to get out.

Just when he was about to get up, Jake heard a voice come from behind him.

"Hey."

"Hey," Jake recognized the voice right way. Therefore, he felt no need to look up. He continued shoving papers, pencils, and notebooks into his small backpack.

"Are you busy tonight?" Rose asked casually.

"Well actually, I-"

"Well you are now," Rose smirked, flipping her hair in a cute, girly sort of way.

Jake sighed as he closed his empty locker and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Look, I'd love to hang out, but I have to train tonight," he responded apologetically, "I'm sorry."

Rose leaned against the lockers, still smiling almost evilly.

"Relax, dragon boy," Rose replied. "I already talked it over with you grandfather and Fu Dog."

Jake shot her a look of surprise. "Really?" He leaned forward under the weight of his backpack. "What did they say?"

"Just that things have been slow since the stone incident," she shrugged. "They said you've earned a night off."

Jake smiled in reply. "So what did you have in mind?"

"Well," Rose started, "since it's the end of the year, the school's annual summer carnival is tonight. I'd kind of like to go for a change."

Jake considered her request for a moment. He'd never actually gone to one of the school's carnivals, apart from the time he had to sell cupcakes. He was always too busy saving the world to waste time on rides and games.

"You know," he replied after a little while of thinking, "I'd like that."

Rose smiled happily. "Good. Pick me up at 5:00."

"Not a problem," Jake smiled back warmly. "I guess I'll see you then."

"I guess you will," Rose replied before turning to walk away.

**XX**

"You know," Rose look around at the view, "I've never actually been on one of these things."

"What?" Jake shot back through a mouth full of funnel cake. "You've never been on a ferris wheel?"

"Yeah," Rose replied softly, "I don't really know why. I'm not afraid of heights. I just never thought it looked like much fun."

Jake shrugged in reply. "It can be fun," he replied defensively, "if you make it fun," he added with a wink and a smile.

"Oh boy," Rose looked over the ledge. "Get me off of this ride. This boy is starting to creep me out."

"Funny," Jake rolled his eyes as he stuffed more funnel cake into his mouth. "Want some?"

"I've never tried it before," Rose answered scrutinizing a tiny piece.

"What?" Jake replied once again. "What else haven't you tried?"

She shrugged and took a bite of the little piece she had ripped off.

"Oh my God," her eyes widened. "This is so yummy!"

"You can have the rest if you want," he handed her the paper plate.

"Thank you so much!" She replied happily, snatching the plate away from him.

The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was filled with all sorts of amazing colors. Things at the carnival were starting to quiet down as most of the children had left.

Sensing the suddenly romantic mood, Jake feigned a yawn before carefully slipping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

Rose pulled away and laughed. "Did you really just pull the old yawn move?"

"Bssssssh," Jake tried to cover it up, but he realized there really wasn't a point. "Yeah."

Rose giggled again before moving closer and cuddling against him, this time allowing Jake to put his arm around her. She turned her head to the side and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"You know," she started casually, "it's kind of chilly out here tonight."

Jake merely nodded his head in response and stared off into space.

"Yeah I'm kind of cold," she hinted, staring at him closely.

"Yeah," he replied simply. It was obvious his mind was somewhere else.

"Jake," her voice came out loud and a bit harsh, "I'm starting to shake."

"Oh," realization dawned on him, "do you want my jacket?"

Rose gave him a sarcastic smirk. "I dunno, what led you to assume that?"

"Sorry," he replied looking away. He slipped off his jacket and slung it around her shoulders. "My mind was somewhere else."

"Where?" She asked leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I just," Jake scratched the back of his head, "you're gonna think I'm crazy."

"No," she insisted, "tell me."

"I just," he started again, "I just can't help but feel like something's wrong. In the magical world I mean. I've been feeling it all day."

"I see," Rose nodded understandingly. "I think you just need a break. Quite honestly, it's been a long winter. Just try to relax a little and have some fun."

Jake sighed. "Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right," Rose smiled victoriously.

Their conversation was followed by a brief silence. It was almost completely dark now, and the lights from the ferris wheel were shining brightly into the night.

"So," Rose broke the silence, "there is a lot of powdered sugar left on this paper plate." She motioned to it with her hand.

"Umm yeah?" Jake wondered where she was going with this.

"So what are we supposed to do with it?" She asked casually. Jake could tell by the look in her eyes that she was indeed going somewhere with this.

"Eat it I guess?" He replied, still confused. He didn't realize her true intentions until it was too late.

Within seconds, his face and shirt were covered in thick, white powder, and Rose was clutching her stomach in laugher.

"Oh, you should see you yourself right now," she giggled, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

"You," Jake wiped the powder off of his face with his hands, "are truly evil aren't you?"

"Once you're on the dark side, you never go back," she smiled deviously before leaning in to kiss him on the lips. A couple seconds into the kiss, she smiled and pulled away.

"What?" Jake asked in confusion.

Rose once again started laughing in response. "You're lips taste like powdered sugar," she smiled triumphantly.

**XX**

**Was there a point to this? No not really. Just a fluffy opening chapter. Plus a little bit of foreshadowing…you probably caught that. **

**Stuff actually connecting to the plot will start next chapter. This was kind of a character building chapter I guess. It was kind of fun to write. :) **

**And also, sorry for the delay on this. I've had it written for about a week, I just didn't want to post it. Partially because no one else was updating anything, and partially because we are going through a bit of a crisis where I live, and I'm starting to worry about more important things. But I'll try my best not to get off of my updating schedule. I'll try to update again tomorrow to get back on schedule, but I won't if no one updates between now and then. **

**Hope you all enjoyed!**

**~ada**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2: A Surprising Visit**

"Hey guys," Spud shouted, "look what I can do with my tongue!"

Since the battle against the Huntsclan, things had been slower than ever in the magical world. Jake couldn't complain as he had much more free time to hang out with his friends, but during times like this, when he was supposed to be training, there was almost nothing for him to do.

On days like this, Jake, Trixie, Spud, and Rose just sat around and talked, almost as if they were normal teenagers.

"Boy, that is nasty!" Trixie cringed in disgust when she looked over at Spud's tongue trick.

"Everyone sit down and be quiet!" Lao Shi entered the room with a very displeased look on his face. "I have received some valuable information from the council. It is very important that you hear it!"

"We're listening G," Jake plopped down on the couch with a yawn. He was soon followed by Rose, Trixie, and Spud. Then Spud grabbed a nearby bag of chips and began to chow down.

Lao Shi shook his head. "This is no time to be getting lazy!" He scolded them. "I know that things have been slow this spring and summer, but I have a terrible feeling that our enemies are becoming close to returning to power."

"Chang and Yanak?" Trixie asked. "What could those two possibly do?"

"Yeah," Spud added, "they were just apprentices. What harm could they do?"

Jake however remained quiet. His memory traveled back to the previous night at the carnival. Back to that moment when he had sensed that something was wrong. Maybe his grandfather was right to be worried about Yanak and Chang. Former apprentices or not, they were still a threat. However, he felt better knowing that the stones were locked away tightly. He relaxed a little bit and focused his attention back to his grandfather.

"A few days ago, the dragon council made a shocking discovery," Lao Shi began slowly and gravely. "A rumor has begun to spread involving a book that Audmira Theravata may have left behind. A book containing all the secrets and magic of the stones. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, even without the stones, the book may be dangerous to the magical community."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Jake asked simply.

"It cannot be known for sure that such a book exists," Lao Shi replied, "however, we must search for it anyway, especially in a time like this where nothing else needs to be done in the magical community."

Jake nodded in reply. "Where do we begin looking?"

Lao Shi sighed and looked away from his grandson. "That is the problem young dragon. It could be anywhere. A book of such importance was surely hidden by Audmira Theravata in the days before her death."

"However, the book most likely was taken by force from her," he added. "Even if this book of magic existed at one time, it is likely that it has been destroyed."

"Then why waste time looking for something that doesn't exist?" Jake asked.

"Because," Lao Shi looked toward the ground, "if it would fall into the wrong hands, it would bring great disaster to the magical world."

Jake nodded and stared off into space. He couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. Something big. All of this talk about a book of magic sounded familiar in a way. Almost as if he knew something more.

He shook off the feeling and focused his attention back to his friends and grandfather, who were coming up with ideas of where to start.

"We can search around the lakes," Rose threw out, "all of them. And the space where they traveled from one to another. It could be buried anywhere along there."

"How would we know?" Trixie asked. "It's not like we can go around digging up little towns looking for a book…those people would think we're crazy!"

"I know!" Spud threw his hands up in the air. "We could make some sort of laser tracking device that will lead us to the exact location of the book!"

"Ummmm."

"And how exactly are we gonna do that?" Trixie asked.

Spud opened his mouth to talk, but then realized that he had no answer to his friend's question. "I dunno." He put his arms down in defeat.

As they continued to argue over the possible methods of finding the lost, possibly nonexistent book, they heard the bell above the front door ring in the other room.

"Customers?" Spud shot up from the couch excitedly. "You guys never have customers!" He shouted as Lao Shi went up front to see who had entered.

"I wonder who that could be," Jake said through a mouth full of chips. He didn't care who it was. He had no intentions of leaving his place on the couch.

However, when the curtain was pushed aside by Lao Shi to let the visitors in, Jake realized that it was none other than the Dragon Council. Hoping that this wasn't another surprise inspection, he chucked the chips across the room before they even caught sight of him.

"Dragon Long," Councilor Andam greeted him, "it has been awhile since we last saw you."

"Yes it has councilor," Jake replied almost too quickly. "Is this a surprise inspection?" He regretted asking the question almost immediately.

"No, I am afraid not," Kulde replied.

Jake sighed with relief, but then he saw the concern written clearly in the councilors eyes. Looking around, he realized that all the council members had the same worried expression. Worry began to wash over him as well as he thought back to the previous night once more. Something had happened last night, and he was deeply disturbed by the fact that he had felt it coming.

"Councilors," Lao Shi broke the silence, "what news do you bring?"

Since the information regarding the mysterious book had been released to them through a message rather than a face to face meeting, this had to be extremely important. Way more important than Audmira Theravata's book.

"We," Kulde began, but couldn't finish his sentence. He looked around at the other councilors for help.

"We," Andam picked up, "were robbed last night."

His words were followed by a short period of silence.

"We don't know how it happened," Kulde regained his voice and joined back in the conversation. "Everything is so heavily guarded. We thought this couldn't happen."

"What was stolen, councilors?" Lao Shi asked as if none of them knew.

They were all expecting to hear it, yet, when said aloud, all they could do was stand there in shock.

Andam took a deep breath before he answered. "The stones are gone."

**XX**

**Meant to update a bit earlier. I'm a full chapter behind of schedule right now. And I want to be on schedule. Lol. I may update tomorrow. Maybe. I hope. Lol. **

**Thank you to those of you who updated stuff! It makes my life not so boring! Lol. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ada**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3: Devising the Plan**

Jake suddenly felt weak. No one had moved within the last minute, but he somehow found the strength to move back over to the couch. He plopped back down and let himself drift deeper into thought, but no matter how hard he scrutinized the situation, he came to the same, dreadful conclusion; they were screwed.

He snapped out of his trance and looked around at the others in the room. Still, no one but him had moved. Everyone stood in shock. Even the councilors seemed to be lost in shock. It appeared that they had just fully realized the true meaning behind the situation.

After another few seconds of silence, councilor Kulde decided to break it. "The sirens went off," he spoke almost defensively, as if they had not totally failed their protection duties, "but by the time we got there, Chang, Yanak, and the stones were all gone."

"They left barely a trace," Andam added solemnly. "However, they did miss our security cameras. They most likely did not know of their existence," he added.

"Or maybe it was just too obvious," Jake somehow managed to find his voice. "Too obvious that they were the only people out there who would have a purpose for stealing the stones. They probably figured that destroying the security cameras was a waste of their time."

"Councilors," Lao Shi spoke for the first time in minutes, "could you hear them speaking? Did they leave any clues as to where they might be headed next?"

"As a matter of fact," Kulde responded immediately, "they did."

Andam cleared his throat. "They didn't say a specific location, but they did mention something that reveals two things to us."

Everyone was listening now with a small glint of hope in their eyes. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late to fix this before anything unspeakably horrible could come from it.

Councilor Andam walked closer to the center of the room so that everyone could hear him a bit better. "Chang mentioned something about beginning their search for the book after they stole the stones. This," he continued slowly so that everyone, including Spud, could interpret what was going on, "tells us two things."

"The book exists," he stated simply. "It exists and it is hidden somewhere that is unknown to Chang and Yanak. How they have come to obtain this knowledge I am not sure, but I know for a fact that if they were clever enough to steal the stones, they wouldn't waste months searching for something if they weren't sure of its existence."

Jake head was beginning to become overwhelmed with questions. The book existed. Where was it? What exactly was in it that was so important? How did Chang and Yanak find out about it? And most importantly, what were their motives? These thoughts were beginning to drive him insane. However, he knew that the only way they were ever going to be answered was if he remained patient.

"In addition," Kulde added, "this also, in a way, tells us where they are."

"But there are a million places that book could be! How will we know where to start?" Jake threw his hands up in the air, clearly becoming stressed.

"Dragon Long," Andam turned focused his attention on Jake. "The stones are dangerous, but a combination of that book and those stones would be much worse. The results could be disastrous."

"So-"

"What we need," Andam cut Jake off so he could finish his explanation, "is for you to find that book before they do. If we find it first, Chang and Yanak will spend months looking for something they don't know that we have, therefore giving us more time to track them down and regain possession of those stones."

"And I don't think that either of them will use the stones till they got that book," Fu Dog joined in the conversation. "We can make this work to our advantage if we try hard enough."

"The only challenge will be recovering the book," Kulde stated. "Who knows where it could be. It may be impossible to find."

Jake sighed. "We'll have to try, but something tells me that Chang knows so much more about the past than we do."

Lao Shi nodded in agreement. "It is mysterious that they know secrets of the past that not even the council has knowledge of."

"Whatever," Jake stood up, "we can't spend too much time dwelling on the past. We have to start looking toward the future."

"Young dragon," Lao Shi turned to face his grandson, "You can often look to the past for answers to the future," he corrected. "What happened a thousand years ago can easily be repeated."

"In China," Lao Shi continued his lecture as Jake's thoughts began to wander, "History has repeated itself over and over since the foundation of the county. A ruler stepped forth only to lead to the fall of his people and be overtaken by another. Each leader did not believe it would happen to them, yet they are all made the same mistakes. We must learn from the past if we want any hope of succeeding in the future."

"Your grandfather is right, Jake," Andam added. "Study the history of the Theravata in great depth. It may help you along the way."

Jake simply nodded in response.

"In addition," Kulde cut in, "we believe that you will need all of the help that you can get. That is why we will be sending Dragon Nerk along with you on your quest."

"Fred?" Spud jumped up in excitement. "Oh, I wonder if he ever caught the loch ness monster!"

"Boy, of all the things you could be thinking about right now," Trixie shook her head.

Spud simply shrugged in reply and went back to staring off into space.

"Well Lao Shi, Jake," Councilor Kulde nodded his head toward the two dragons, "I wish you both luck. Please make sure to keep us up to date on the current situation."

Jake and Lao Shi bowed in reply.

"We will councilors," Lao Shi assured them.

"Very well," Andam looked down at his watch. "We best be on our way."

Jake watched them as they walked out of the shop and back onto the street before slumping back down on the couch.

This was going to be a long week.

He looked around at the others in the room before he spoke aloud.

"We better get started now."

**XX**

**YAY! Finished! On Monday just like promised. Trying to get back on schedule. If I do, then the next update will be Wednesday. **

**It seems shorter but it's really the same length. There is less dialogue and that takes up more space.**

**Thanks for your support and hope you enjoyed! :D **

**~ada**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4: A Startling Encounter **

"This is a mess," Jake put his head in his hands and tried to pretend like the entire day had never happened.

"Don't worry," he heard Rose speak, "we'll figure all this out."

He looked up to see her give him a reassuring smile.

"I hope so," his eyes drifted off. Jake was getting really tired. This had been one of the longest days of his entire life.

"Well guys," he suddenly stood up and walked towards the exit, "I think I've had enough for one day."

He looked down at his watch. It was almost 9:00 at night, and he knew that his parents would freak out if he wasn't home soon.

"Yeah I'm gonna head out too," Rose stood up with a sigh. "My family's going to wonder where I'm at. They're still on the fence about this whole magic thing."

Jake shrugged. "It's all still relatively new to them. Give it some time."

Rose simply nodded in reply. Jake noted how tired she was beginning to look. And with good reason. This had been a terrible day for everybody, and Rose's color drained face and lightless eyes proved that well.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Jake asked politely.

"I don't want to cause you any extra trouble tonight, Jake," she smiled sleepily.

"Really," Jake insisted. "It's no big deal. Plus I don't know how I feel about you walking home alone with our villains on the loose. Who knows what they're planning."

Rose shrugged. "If you insist," she smiled.

"Cool," he replied simply. "Gramps we're out!" He shouted back to his grandfather, who was yelling something in Chinese at Fu Dog.

"I don't think he heard you," Rose smirked.

"Eh," He rolled his eyes, "he'll figure it out eventually when he sees that I'm gone."

"That would be the logical thing, yes," she smiled teasingly.

He pushed the door open and held it for her, "No need for that now," he shot back.

"Oh relax, will you?" She slapped him playfully. "I was only teasing."

He was walking slightly behind, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him forward a bit.

"I can tell you're worried," she said in a matter of fact voice.

"And you expect me not to be," he stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the ground.

Rose sighed lifted his chin so he'd look her straight in the eyes. "I know this all seems bad now," her voice was calming and steady, "but trust me Jake; we're going to be just fi-"

Rose was interrupted by a giant explosion to her right. It blasted both her and Jake off of their feet.

Jake scrambled back up to his feet and pushed Rose behind him. He looked around cautiously as he felt Rose's hands tighten on his shoulders. She too was looking around in front of Jake to see what could have caused the sudden explosion.

As the smoke began to clear, Jake could see the outline of a figure standing in battle position.

"American Dragon," the voice was that of a female, "it's been awhile."

Her voice was cold and heartless. A voice he knew only too well.

"Chang," he balled up his fists, readying himself for the coming fight. "What are you doing here?" He spat.

"Oh," she looked away like it was no big deal, "just plotting for world domination. I figure the first step is removing you from the picture."

Jake shifted to his dragon form. "Try me."

Chang didn't waste a second. She sprang forward with full force, almost knocking Jake to the ground. However, he had been prepared enough to remain on his feet, and he pushed her back with all his strength.

This time of night was always the hardest for him, especially after a day like this. He was tired, and all he really wanted to do was collapse on his bed and escape the nightmare of reality.

Somehow, Chang managed to overpower him this time, and she sent him flying into a nearby dumpster with full force.

Jake groaned as he felt last week's trash fall down onto his head. He sat up with a moan and rubbed his head. Still feeling dizzy, he slowly opened his eyes, but what he saw only increased the danger of the situation.

Rose, who had been standing and observing Jake's fight with Chang, was being watched by a second figure standing almost directly behind her.

Jake's eyes widened in horror as he realized that the person was holding some sort of a weapon, and he was closing in behind Rose.

"Rose!" Jake shouted immediately. "Behind you!"

Rose flipped around and dropped into battle stance with all the ninja skills she possessed. She spun out of the way just in time to miss the swing of the man's weapon.

As his dragon eyes adjusted to the darkened sky, he recognized the man immediately as none other than Yanak.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Chang sent a wave of fire his way. Jake rolled over on the ground and took the opportunity to stand back up and face his enemy.

"Where are the stones?" Jake growled as he tried to catch his breath while sounding threatening at the same time.

"Safe from you," Chang replied with a simple smile. "But don't worry. You'll get the chance to see their power very shortly."

Jake narrowed his eyes at her. She definitely knew something. But how?

If she could find the answers to the past, why couldn't they?

He looked over toward Rose to find that Yanak had stopped attacking her, and now he was carefully listening to what Chang was saying. However, Rose remained slightly behind him, keeping her eyes focused on his back. She would not let him distract her.

"You're lucky you brought the girl with you," Chang smiled evilly. "Otherwise things would've ended differently, American Dragon."

She spread her wings and flew a couple feet into the air. "Let's get out of here, Yanak." She demanded. "We are outmatched today."

"Correct," Yanak spoke for the first time that night. "Let us focus on finding the book."

Chang shot Jake one more look of evil that sent chills down his spine before she and Yanak vanished into the night sky.

Jake and Rose could only watch in silence for the following seconds.

After awhile, Jake sighed. "Come on Rose," he spoke gently and tiredly. "Let's get home."

**XX**

**I know what you are thinking. Why would Chang and Yanak show up in New York when what they really need is to be out looking for the book? It'll be answered. Don't worry. It's a pretty obvious explanation really. I just wanted a little early action in the storyline. :D It's just gonna be go go go for the gang from here on out. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ada**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5: Of Dreams and Realization **

After walking Rose to her home and explaining to her semi- angry parents why she was home so late, Jake flew home and plopped down on his bed almost instantly.

He was so tired he didn't even want to take the effort to change or shower or anything. It could all be done in the morning.

He didn't care if he had some crazy nightmare tonight. It had to be better than what was going on in real life.

But as he began to drift off into a deep sleep, he had no idea that the dream he was about to have, a flashback of the past, could save the future from destruction.

**XX**

_Jake hit the bottom of the lake with a thud. _

"_Gee," He stood up slowly and rubbed his back, "would have been nice if Fu Dog would have warned me about the landing."_

_He took a look around. Just like Lake Louise, the currents of West Okoboji were strong. Strangely enough, they didn't seem to be applying any sort of force. Jake assumed the suit had some magical ability that allowed for that. For once, it seemed like Fu Dog had thought of everything. _

_Remembering his mission, he looked around on the floor of the lake, and he quickly spotted an object. However, he knew right away that it wasn't a stone. It looked like a-_

"_KID!" Jake jumped as he heard Fu's voice through the headphones. _

"_May Day! May Day! Get back up here now!" _

"_Why?" Jake asked worriedly. "What happened?"_

"_It's the Huntsclan," the dog replied shakily. "There here! They've been here…they've already got the stone!"_

"_I know," Jake replied quickly, glancing back at the bottom of the lake. "But there's something else here. I think it's a-"_

"_Kid!" Fu interrupted. "We don't have time for this now! You gotta get back up here! We don't stand a chance without you!" _

"_On my way, Fu."_

**XX**

Jake woke up in cold sweat a couple hours later and looked at the clock on his dresser. 3:23 am. It took him a few minutes to figure out where he was, and it took him a few more minutes after that to remember what his dream was about.

Slowly, the details from the dream began to form in his head, and his memory drifted back four months prior, when he had been in Okoboji. He realized then that it wasn't a dream at all. The "dream" he had been having was a flashback of the past. A memory.

His thoughts drifted back to the lake. To the missing stone. To the object he now so clearly remembered was in its place.

Of course the Huntsclan had had no idea what it was. Why would've they taken it?

Realization shot through Jake like lightening.

He had gone to bed around midnight, and he had only been asleep for a little over three hours. And yet here he was, sitting straight up in bed and wide awake.

He knew after the flashback/dream of Okoboji, he'd never be able to get back to sleep. Instead, he decided that he needed to get the newly found information to his grandfather right away.

Jake, realizing he was already dressed, threw the covers to the side and jumped out the window, transforming seconds before he would've hit the pavement.

He spread his wings and let them do the rest as he soared up high into the night sky. It felt good to get out and burn up some of his newly found energy.

Jake knew his mind wouldn't rest until he spoke with his grandfather, and he was now beginning to realize how stupid he had been. How could've he not thought of it before?

Of course, it wasn't entirely his fault. If only Fu Dog would have listened. Then, none of this would've happened.

They would be in much better shape at the moment.

Jake laughed a little at the thought. Somehow, everything always wound up being Fu Dog's fault.

He was a good animal guardian and an even better friend, but just like any person, Fu Dog definitely had his flaws.

Jake's thoughts drifted back to the situation at hand as he continued to worry about the fate of the magical world.

It seemed like just a week ago, everything had been so boring and slow. But now, the freedom and joy of summer was slowly turning into a nightmare.

If they weren't careful, the magical world could be put into an even worse perspective in the human eye.

Jake was relieved when he finally caught sight of his grandpa's shop. He slowly lowered himself toward the ground and pulled a key from his pocket.

He knew at that moment he should have called rather than came, but to him, this was way too big of a deal to discuss over the phone.

As he flung open the door, the alarm began to go off nice and loud.

"Great," Jake mumbled to himself. "Gramps is gonna be pissed."

As if on cue, Lao Shi came running down the stairs in panic mode, and when he saw Jake standing just inside the door, he went on one of his famous Chinese rants.

"Jake!" He screamed punching his fists in the air. This was followed by another short rant in Chinese. "What could possibly be so important that you have to come in here in the middle of the night and wake me from my sleep?"

At this point, the alarm was still going off, and Lao Shi had gone over to the keypad to shut it off.

Soon after doing so, Fu Dog stumbled into the room, drunken with sleep.

"What did I miss?" He muttered sleepily.

"Jake," Lao Shi's voice was still angry, "would you mind telling us what's going on so we can get on with our rest?"

"Gramps," Jake held up his hands defensively. "Trust me, I wouldn't come here at," he quickly glanced at his watch, "3:54 in the morning for something that wasn't important. This is huge."

"Well," Fu Dog waved his paws in expectation "get on with it, kid!"

"Alright alright alright," Jake answered, sitting down on the couch. "I just had a dream-"

"So you came because you had some sort of a nightmare," Fu rolled his eyes. "What are you going to tell us next? You're afraid of the dark?"

Jake simply ignored him. "It was more like a flashback really. Back to when we were in Okoboji."

Lao Shi was listening carefully now. He understood that whatever Jake had to say was most likely extremely important.

"It was when I was at the bottom of the lake," Jake continued slowly, almost as if in a trance. "I looked down to see that the stone was gone, but something else was there."

"I tried to tell Fu," Jake held his hands out defensively, "but he was distracted by something."

"What did you see, Jake?" Lao Shi pressed on. "Do you remember?"

"Oh," Jake nodded, "I remember clearly now. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I feel like an idiot now that I remember this."

"Just tell us already, kid!" Fu's eyes were wide with anticipation.

"It was a book."

**XX**

**The most obvious spot on the planet that that book could be…and they couldn't figure it out. *Shakes head.* People are stupid. Lol. I loved writing that scene though in chapter 16 of When Death Strikes. :D I copied and pasted that into this chapter so you could all read it again and go, "ooohhhh." Lol. Of course, at that moment in time, none of you even knew about the book...it was some fun foreshadowing though. :D **

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ada**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6: Return to Okoboji**

Jake sat down on the couch with a yawn.

Needless to say, he hadn't gotten much sleep at all the previous night. It was almost 7:30 in the morning, and he had arrived at the shop about a half an hour prior. Since then, Jake, along with Lao Shi and Fu Dog, had been running all over the place trying to put their plans in order.

Lao Shi, who hadn't slept a wink after Jake's intrusion the night before, had decided that they were to leave around noon.

Jake had been busy calling his friends to inform them of the recent discovery. Trixie, Spud, and Rose all agreed to help out on the mission to retrieve the book, and they agreed to be at the shop by 11:00 am at the latest.

Fu Dog had been working on the plans for the actual mission. He'd taken a great deal of effort to find potions, devices, and other such things that they could use to once again reach the bottom of the lake. He had even taken the time to draw a quick picture of his plans, which were then ridiculed thoroughly by Jake.

"Hey," Fu Dog defended his sketch, "what are you? Some kind of critic?"

"Fu," Jake continued with the criticism, "I look like some kind of wannabe gangster."

Fu Dog shot him a grumpy look. "Look, I tried alright? I just feel like we need to blend in."

"Alright," Jake shrugged moving on to his next piece of criticism, "so what's up with the random monster in the background?"

"It's a magical lake," Fu Dog replied stubbornly, "who knows what kind of evils live within its depths?"

The next couple hours were spent packing and going over the plans to make sure there weren't any flaws. Jake knew as well as anybody that Fu Dog's plans weren't always the greatest.

Soon, Rose showed up, and not too long after, Trixie and Spud joined her.

Jake carefully informed them of their current plans and was opened to suggestions for making them better. Then, everyone ate a quick lunch and packed some snacks for the trip. They once again would be making the trip by flight.

By noon, everyone was filled in, filled up, and ready to go on another journey to West Lake Okoboji.

**XX**

They arrived at the lake a little after 9:00 pm, a full two hours later than Fu Dog had predicted. Of course, no one was really surprised.

Since all of the hotels in the area were booked for summer travelers, they had decided to camp out like they had when they had gone to Lake Louise. Only this time, it was actually warm outside.

Nevertheless, they built a campfire just like any other campout. The more they blended in, the easier their mission would become. Of course, they didn't quite know what the opinions of the magical world were in the Midwest, but they imagined that it would be best to get as little attention as possible.

After they set up the tents, everyone sat down around the campfire to rest. It was almost 10:00, and at this point, they were all tired from the trip, especially Jake and Lao Shi, who had spent the day flying.

Spud then proceeded to rip open a bag of marshmallows, some of which went flying in all directions.

"It's time for s'mooooooooreeees," he shouted happily. "Now who has the chocolate?" Spud ripped through the bags of supplies they had brought. "I'm sure they're in here somewhere….I packed them myself."

"So Jakey," Trixie turned her attention away from Spud's s'more search, "how did you suddenly remember that you saw the book at the bottom of the lake? Why couldn't have you remembered it when you got the letter from the council? You know…save us a bit of trouble and all."

Jake sighed and thought about it for a second. "I guess…I guess I just forgot about it. At the time, we had more important things to focus on. I was only told that I needed to retrieve the stone. So when I got all the way down to the deepest point in the lake, I didn't think much of it when I saw a book. I was looking for a stone."

"Ohhhhh," Spud said through a mouthful of chocolate, "so it was like one of those times where you're looking for one thing, but then you actually end up finding something else instead?"

"I guess you could put it like that," Jake nodded thoughtfully. "That does end up happening to me a lot actually now that I'm thinking about it."

"Boy, I want one of those s'mores!" Trixie reached over and grabbed a marshmallow from the bag.

"Me too actually," Rose added, and soon everyone else reached for the marshmallow bag as well.

"So what are our plans for tomorrow then?" Jake took a bite out of his marshmallow and turned to look at Fu.

"We went over most of the plans this morning," Fu shrugged thinking back to his sketch.

"But not everything," Jake replied. "Like you know how you usually have some crazy invention that's supposed to get me to the deepest point of the lake safely, yet effectively, but instead I usually end up almost drowning and losing my life?"

"Yeah," the animal guardian shoved a handful of chocolate into his mouth, "so what?"

"So what is it?" Jake asked. "The crazy life-threatening invention I mean?"

"Well, kid, if I told you it would ruin the surprise," Fu Dog replied with a shrug.

"But I need to know," Jake insisted, "I'd kind of like to be prepared ahead of time. If I'm gonna die, I'd kind of like to call my mom one last time."

"Eh," Fu Dog stood up to stretch his legs, "I think it would be better if you found out tomorrow," he began to walk toward one of the tents. "I don't want to give you nightmares or anything." He disappeared into the tent.

"Fu Dog?" Jake shouted after him. "Fu Dog!"

Jake growled and began to mumble to himself.

Lao Shi sighed and glanced down at his watch. "I think it would be best if we all got some sleep," he told them. "We may possibly have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Everyone nodded in agreement and headed off to their tents for the night.

**XX**

**Sorry that this is a day late. I could go on with some excuses, but the main reason is that I was just flat out lazy yesterday. Lolz. **

**Pretty chill chapter. You'd think that they would be go go go and not have time for marshmallows and campfires, but there is a reason they aren't pushing themselves to go faster. Which isn't really a secret but I might say something about it in the next chapter. Just in case any of you were wondering about that. **

**Also, this appears short, but again, it's the same length as the others. Just longer paragraphs and such.**

**Oh! And by the way, the sketch that Fu Dog drew in this chapter, I actually drew that. Lol. If anyone wants to see it lemme know kays? **

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ada**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7: Of Seaweed and Sea Monsters**

The first few rays of sunlight danced across the lake as dawn neared Okoboji, Iowa. The birds were already up and chirping, and the grass was covered in a thick layer of summer dew. These first few signs of daybreak signaled the beautiful day that lie ahead for lake goers and dragons alike.

As the sun became visible over the vast landscape of rolling hills, life everywhere was waking up from a long night of sleep.

In a tent not too far away on the west side of the lake, Jake Long, still half asleep, rolled over and pulled the covers over his eyes to block out the light of the morning sun.

Just when he had become comfortable and ready to fall back asleep, he heard a voice screaming his name.

"Jake!" He jumped when he heard his grandfather yell. "It is 7:00 am. Time to get up!"

Jake groaned and rolled onto his back. "Just five more minutes, G."

"Jake!"

"Ugh," Jake sat up sleepily, his hair sticking up in all directions, "alright, alright. I'm coming." He crawled out of the sleeping back and out of the tent. Once he was outside, he was immediately blinded by the light of the sun reflecting off of the lake. He groaned once more before using a nearby tree to help him stand up.

Trixie, Spud, and Rose stumbled out of the tent shortly after, all looking sleepy and a little confused.

"What's going on?" Rose asked rubbing her eyes.

"It's time to wake up and greet the day!" Fu Dog replied enthusiastically. They all looked over to see him wearing a very large pair of sun glasses while holding a fishing pole in one hand, binoculars in the other.

"Fu," Jake groaned rubbing his head, "what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He asked.

"Ummm," Jake scratched the back of his head, "looking for the sea monster from your sketch?"

Fu Dog frowned. "We're going out to the lake to find the book."

"So what?" Jake shook his head. "We're going to fish for it?"

"No," Fu Dog shot back, "but if you're going to be in the lake, I might as well take the opportunity to fish a little bit. Besides, we need to blend in as much as possible."

"Fu," Jake crossed his arms, "I don't see how a dog wearing sunglasses and casting a fishing pole is considered 'blending in'."

"Relax, kid," Fu replied calmly, "I've got this all figured out. And speaking of blending in," he continued, "you need to wear these," he tossed Jake, Rose, Trixie, and Spud a pair of sunglasses, as Lao Shi already had some.

"Are you serious?" Jake asked.

"Won't this just make us look a bit suspicious?" Rose eyed the sunglasses Fu Dog gave her.

"Where have these been?" Trixie held her pair out in front of her and inspected it closely.

"Look," Fu Dog held his paws out defensively, "just trust me on this, okay? These sunglasses are useful, common, and clean," he glared at Trixie.

"Enough arguing," Lao Shi cut in. "It is time for us to leave."

Jake sighed as he watched his grandfather put on a pair of sunglasses, and shortly after, he did the same.

**XX**

By the time they got settled into the boat, it was almost 8:30 am, and the lake was starting to get a little busier with early morning fishers and boaters.

"Alright," Fu Dog gave Lao Shi the boat key and sat down next to Jake, "It's time to focus on the mission."

"Well," Trixie glanced nervously as the lake, "it's not as bad as the ocean. But…ummm…would if we fall out?"

"Eh," Fu Dog shrugged, "don't worry about it. You'll just land in the lake."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better because…?" She pulled a large piece of green seaweed from the slimy lake.

"Don't worry about it so much," Fu Dog leaned back in his seat, "you're not gonna fall in anyway."

Lao Shi pulled away from the dock and kicked the boat up to full speed, cutting through the water with ease. Fu Dog pulled out his tracking device, and it slowly began to beep. They sat in silence and anticipation as Fu Dog's tracker began to beep faster and faster. All in all, it took them about five minutes to reach their destination.

"Okay, kid," Fu Dog pulled out a strange look device. Everyone was anxious to see what crazy invention he had brought with him this time.

"This," Fu Dog held up the interesting metal object, "is a teleportation device. We just attach this metal bracelet to your wrist," he held up something that looked like a handcuff, "press some buttons, and BAM! You're at the bottom of the lake."

Jake stared at him blankly for a couple seconds. "That's it? It's that easy?"

"Simple as that, kid," Fu Dog beamed.

"Fu," Jake threw his hands up in the air, "why the hell weren't we using this before?"

"Yeesh I was just trying to make things a bit more interesting," Fu's smile turned into a frown.

"I could've been killed!" Jake shouted back. "I almost…almost died in Lake Louise."

"Key word, kid; almost," Fu held up the metal bracelet.

Jake sighed before holding out his wrist and letting Fu Dog put it on him.

"You can use these to see," the magical guardian handed Jake some ridiculous looking goggles. "I'm not going to give you anything for breathing. This should be quick and easy. If the book is there, take it quickly and press the green button on your bracelet. If you press the button you will be transported back up to the boat. Got it?"

"I think so," Jake replied slowly. "But I do have one question."

"Shoot," Fu grabbed a bag of chips and shoved some into his mouth.

"What does the red button do?" Jake asked.

"Don't press the red button!" Fu Dog yelled through a mouthful of chips. He shot up to get a better look at Jake.

"Why? What's it do?"

"Doesn't matter," Fu Dog replied. "Don't press it."

Jake shook his head. Some things he'd never understand.

"In addition," Fu Dog added, "I hope that you don't get eaten by the sea monster."

Jake rolled his eyes in reply. "Alright then," he replied shakily. "I think I'm ready for this."

**XX**

**This chapter is dedicated to my grandfather, who passed away on this day five years ago. **

**This was fun to write. :D With the dialogue and such. I will say now that I am not freakin updating this again until at least two other people have updated! And let's not make Onej6 do all the work…I practically begged him to update yesterday…he might've anyways, but still. This is ridiculous people! I'm bored out of my mind! Lol.**

**Thank you for your support!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8: The Little Black Book**

After a few more instructions from Fu Dog and another lecture about not pressing the red button, Jake was ready to go. It was getting later in the day, and the sun was beginning to rise higher and higher. The morning light was still reflecting off the smooth surface of the lake, making it a bit harder to see clearly.

"Alright," Jake took a deep breath, "let's get this over with."

"Watch out for dangerous creatures," Rose smirked.

"And remember, Jake," Spud looked his friend straight in the eye, "don't talk to strangers."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Spud," he started, "I don't think there are going to be serial killers waiting for me at the bottom of the lake."

"You never know, man," Spud shook his head. "This is a magical lake. Who knows what kind of evils live within its depths?"

"Finally," Fu threw his paws up in the air, "someone that understands me!"

"No problem," Spud beamed.

Jake sighed. "Can we just do this already?"

"Alright, alright," Fu Dog moved towards the teleportation device and began pressing buttons. "Have some patience, kid. This might take a minute to set up."

"You do know what you're doing, right Fu Dog?" Rose asked worriedly.

"Of course I know what I'm doing," Fu Dog replied quickly, "I've got 600 years worth of knowledge."

"Is that…is that an eyeball?" Trixie pointed to a small round object floating in the lake.

"I don't know," Jake replied. "It kind of looks like an eyeball, doesn't it?"

"If it would happen to be an eyeball, how would have it ended up here?" Rose asked, clearly disturbed by the floating object in the water.

"Maybe it's all that's left of a person," Spud eyed the eyeball closely. "And maybe that person was eaten by the sea monster!"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Fu, you almost done yet?"

"Yup," Fu Dog hit a couple more buttons before he paused to look at Jake. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Jake replied, and Fu Dog began counting down from five dramatically.

Jake held his breath, waiting to be teleported to the bottom of the lake. The last thing he wanted was a mouthful of slimy lake water.

He squeezed his eyes shut when he saw Fu Dog reach for the teleportation button, and all of a sudden he felt as if he had been twisted into some kind of a vortex. In a way, it almost kind of hurt as he was squeezed and turned in almost every possible way.

Somehow, he had managed to keep his mouth shut, which proved to be worth it when he suddenly found himself surrounded by thick currents of water. The sight was instantly familiar to him as his thoughts traced back to the first time he had been there. The disappointment and worry when he realized that the stone was already gone and the confusion upon seeing the little black book in its place.

"_The Book!" _He suddenly remembered and began to look around frantically. He had already wasted seconds of his time adjusting to his surroundings, and sooner or later he would need to come up for air.

When he didn't see it, Jake began to wonder if he had been hallucinating when he had "seen it" months ago. After all, a lake of such powerful magic probably could take its toll on a person's mind.

However, after glancing a second time at the bottom of the lake, he noticed something that proved he was not insane; there was an imprint in the sand, and it happened to be exactly the size and shape of the book. He reached down and touched the sand carefully. The book had been there.

But where was it now? And how did Chang and Yanak once again end up a step ahead of them? It just didn't make any sense.

He took one last look at the empty lake in search of clues before giving up. Careful to avoid the red button, Jake pressed the green and once again felt himself being twisted up into a vortex.

The next thing he knew, he was choking on slimy lake water and gasping for air inside the boat.

Soon, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Jake," he heard his grandfather say, "are you all right?"

"Did you get the book?" Fu Dog asked quickly.

"No," Jake shook his head still trying to catch his breath. "I didn't see it."

His words were followed by a short period of silence. Everyone looked at each other, debating on what they should do next.

"Are you sure?" Lao Shi broke the silence.

"Yeah," Jake replied rubbing his head, "at first I thought I might have hallucinated about that book last winter," he continued, "but then I saw the imprint of the book in the sand."

"Well," Fu Dog walked a bit closer, "if the imprint was still there, we must have just missed it. In a lake like this with raging underwater currents, an imprint like that wouldn't last for more than a day tops."

Everyone fell silent once more. If they had tried to get the book the night before, they might've still had a chance. However, since they had been almost positive that they had won, they had acted too slowly, and it was going to cost them.

Jake sighed, finally gaining the strength to stand up. "So what do we do now?" He asked.

A question no one knew the answer to.

**XX**

Back in New York, in an abandoned building somewhere in the middle of the city, Chang and Yanak were busy plotting their revenge. They had been at their lair only a few hours as they had just returned from Okoboji.

"We need more," Chang stated simply.

Yanak shook his head in reply. "No. We have the stones AND the book. What else could we possibly need? We need to start putting the plan into action now!"

Chang chuckled. "What good what it do? Even with the unlimited power of the stones and the knowledge of the book, without an army we are nothing."

"So what do you propose we do?"

"Simple," Chang replied with a smile. "We rebuild our army."

**XX**

**Yeah. So. I was supposed to update Monday. But I am prepared to defend myself with a list of reasons as to why this got pushed to the back of my priorities list. **

**1. My grandpa had a seizure, and he is now on his deathbed. **

**2. We have had a large amount of thunderstorms here, therefore, I have had to unplug my computer and save the power for other things. When tornado sirens are going off, it's usually not a good thing.**

**3. I haven't felt too great these last couple days.**

**Just been a really weird week I guess. In addition, I'll be out of town this weekend. So probably no update there…gotta family reunion and now probably a funeral. So…yeah. **

**And as for the red button, I just added that in there because you always hear about the freakin' red button that you're not supposed to push, but what's the use of a button if you can't push it? Hmmm. It was just kind of random I guess. Lol. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ada**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9: Controlled by Power**

After a short discussion, they gang agreed that they should spend another night at the lake. They were too tired to make the trip home to New York, and it was already midday. They decided that they would camp out in the same place they had the night before, and they would get up bright and early in the morning to make the trip home and get a start on finding Chang and Yanak.

After everyone had arrived at the campsite and they were all done unpacking, they sat down around the burned out campfire once again. No one had any idea how they were going to spend the rest of their day.

"What should we do?" Jake asked, kicking some dirt up into the air. Everyone simply mumbled in reply.

"Oh! I know!" Spud jumped up suddenly and pointed somewhere on the other side of the lake. "Let's go there!"

Everyone turned to see a small amusement park built just across the lake. Though most of it was hidden behind trees, a ferris wheel and part of what looked to be an ancient rollercoaster were clearly visible.

"Spud, we don't have money," Jake snapped his friend out of his daydream.

"Oh," Spud looked down, clearly disappointed. "So what are we gonna do then?"

"We could go out on the lake," Rose shrugged. "Or I guess we could go swimming in it."

Trixie looked down at the seaweed with disgust. "Yeeeeah I think I'm gonna pass on that one."

Jake sighed and sat down on a log next to their extinguished campfire. "I'm thinking we should be thinking about our next move. That way, when we get back to New York, we can get started right away."

"That doesn't sound like fun," Spud complained. "I wanna go to the freakin' amusment park!"

"Yeah Jakey," Trixie added, "I mean when did you get so mature all of a sudden? Maybe Spud's right," she continued, "I think you need to take a break and have some fun."

"Well," Jake smiled a little, "the sooner we get this done and over with the sooner we can go back to having fun," he answered. "As long as Chang and Yanak are still out there, there is way too much to worry about."

Everyone nodded silently in agreement. Though they hated to admit it, they knew that Jake was right. They were all in danger.

Jake sighed and looked off into the distance. "They are probably planning our destruction as we speak…"

**XX**

"At last," Chang smiled evilly. "Our plan is almost ready to be put into action."

Over the past few days, Chang and Yanak had been busy putting together their army to fulfill their plan. They had managed to come up with a list of names back from the days of the Dark Mafia, and they were eager to see who would return to help them once more.

Chang looked at the list of names and chuckled. "As long as we can get half of these creatures back, the world is ours."

Yanak sighed and shook his head. "I don't see how we are going to convince these creatures that joining us is in their best interest. I mean, what's in it for them?"

Instead of snapping back at the negative response, Chang simply smiled. "You see, Yanak," she began carefully, "there are two things in this world that everybody wants. Two things everyone wants and never has enough of."

She paused for a brief moment to scrutinize the list. "I don't even remember most of these creatures," she mumbled quietly. "This may be more difficult than I thought."

"What two things do you speak of?" Yanak interrupted her thinking, clearly somewhat annoyed by the distraction.

"Money and power," she shot back. "There isn't a creature on this earth that wouldn't jump at the opportunity for either."

Yanak rolled his eyes. "And what makes you think that?"

Chang snorted. "Look at you," she glared back. "If you aren't in this position for power, than why are you here?"

At this, Yanak seemed to be at a loss for words. "I…I wasn't bribed into this. I wanted this for myself…you…you never bribed me with power!" He stammered back.

"Face it, Yanak," she spat back at him, "who is the master here and who is the servant?" She asked but continued before he even had a chance to speak. "I have you eating out of the palm of my hand."

"I have no master!" Yanak hissed back at her. "I am my own master!"

"Then why are you here?" She snapped back. "Why are you here helping ME with MY plan instead of plotting your own?" She paused for him to respond, and when he didn't, she continued. "You know why?" She narrowed her eyes. "Because you know that you don't have the power, and so you joined me."

Yanak was at a complete loss for words. He felt his blood boiling with rage, and he had to fight with himself to remain calm and controlled.

"You are blinded by power, Yanak."

This time, she had sent him over the edge. He was about to lose it when a sharp knock on the door made him forget just how angry he was. He knew exactly who was at the door and why they were there, and he was anxious to see how this would go over.

"You wanted to see me," a young female wearing a dark black cloak squeaked open the door and walked into the room. A hood covered her face, hiding her identity from anyone who might be spying on them.

"Ah yes," Chang smiled evilly. "Come in…sit down."

"Get to the point, dragon!" The girl shot back coolly. "I don't have all day."

Chang sighed. "Alright," she said slowly. "If you must be on your way…we are planning revenge on the American Dragon, an enemy to us both and someone who has ruined plans for the both of us. And we," she continued carefully, "request your assistance."

The young teenager laughed cruelly in reply. "And what makes you think that I would help you, dragons? What's stopping me from slaying you here and now?" Tarah raised her voice and pulled out her staff in the blink of an eye.

"Because," Chang continued without even flinching, "if everything goes according to plan and with your assistance, the American Dragon will fall."

Tarah slowly lowered her staff and looked Chang dead in the eye.

"Truce?" Chang extended her hand.

"For now," Tarah growled.

**XX**

**I know this sucks. It's definitely a filler. And for some reason it just wouldn't come out. BAAH! So very sorry for the wait guys…hope I can get back on some regular updates here soon! The next chapter should be a little more interesting to write. I hope. Lol. **

**Till then, **

**~ada**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10: A Helpful Tip**

"New York," Jake spoke softly to himself.

As much as he hated the city at times, he was glad to finally be back. Having grown up in the city, he could only take so much camping and rural living. A small town life was something he knew he would never have nor would he ever be happy with. So after two days of accomplishing absolutely nothing in Okoboji, he was thrilled to return to the city.

The rising issue of the conflict between magical creatures and humans had been surprising quiet while they were at the lake. Upon returning home, however, the problems were beginning to get worse and worse.

Jake and the gang had come home to a city full of riots and panic, which only added to their pile of things to be worried about. However, for the time being, their main focus had to be finding the enemy.

They had the power to do anything that they wanted to. The thought of it was just finally starting to sink in, and Jake began to realize how serious the situation was.

So for the time being, the argument between the magical and human worlds would have to remain on the bottom of their list of things to worry about.

"It feels like we are just having one problem after another," Rose sighed as she plopped down on the couch. "We haven't even had time to sleep," she added with a yawn.

"Well the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can sleep," Jake sat down next to her and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Okay," Rose nodded sleepily.

"The good news is that we now have a little extra help," Fu Dog entered the room, Fred Nerk following closely behind.

"Fred!"

"Did you find the loch ness monster?" Spud shouted wildly.

"Nope," Fred replied, casually shoving his hands in his pockets. "I think that the loch ness monster is truly just a myth. I'm glad they sent me here though," he added quickly. "This is a REAL mission."

"So you're here to help us?" Rose asked as she stood up to stretch a little.

"Yup," he simply nodded in reply. "The council filled me in and everything."

"Good," Jake walked towards him to shake his hand. "Because we are going to need all the help that we can get."

"How long are you here till?" Trixie joined in the conversation.

"Just until Chang and Yanak are taken care of," Fred answered. "We've got all sorts of problems in Australia too, but this is so much worse. The council decided that I'm needed here right now."

"Well," Jake shrugged, "then we are happy to have your help!"

"Do you have any idea at all of where they could be?" Fred plopped down on the couch were Rose had been sitting moments ago.

Jake sighed and covered his face with his hands in frustration. "Not really. It would be nice if something could just go right for us for a change."

"And it has," Lao Shi entered the room and interrupted the conversation. "I've just found a few magical creatures that may be able to give us the information that we need." He motioned with his hand for the creatures hiding in fear in the back room to come out.

Three leprechauns stepped forward shyly. For some reason Jake could not decipher, they were all shaking in fear.

"Hey," Jake said softly, "we aren't going to hurt you."

"Ah," one of them replied shakily, "it isn't you that worries us."

"Have you seen them?" Jake kneeled down so that he was eye level with them. They were extremely short, even for being leprechauns. "Chang and Yanak I mean?"

"I don't know their names," the small creature answered him. "But they are pure evil. They say they have the best intentions for the magical world, but they are only going to pollute our world with dark magic."

Jake's heart was racing. These leprechauns seemed to know a lot. Maybe this could be the break that they had been looking for.

"Can you tell us where they are or what they're planning?" Jake did his best to remain calm. The last thing he wanted was to frighten the only beings that could give him the information he needed.

"They…they," the magical creature stuttered nervously. "If I tell you they will kill me," he whispered, the terror written on his face.

"Don't worry," Jake replied quickly. "I'll protect you. As the American Dragon, it's my job. Now please," he begged, "can you tell us where they are?"

"They are trying to reunite the Dark Mafia," the leprechaun managed to say. "So far, almost everyone has returned, and they have somehow persuaded others to join them," he continued anxiously. "They wanted us to join them."

Jake closed his eyes for a brief moment. "So let me get this straight," he replied after a moment of silence, "MORE creatures are going to join them?"

The young leprechaun simply nodded. "But there are those of us who remain loyal to the council and loyal to you, American Dragon."

Jake shot him a confused look, telling the creature he needed to elaborate.

"If you need us to fight for you, we are here," the leprechaun added. The two others standing closely behind nodded along.

Jake sighed. "I don't want your lives to be lost to this war, but we may not have a choice."

He nodded understandingly.

"Now," Jake continued before he lost their focus, "do you know where they are?"

The small creature gulped nervously without reply.

"You do realize," Jake began, "that if you tell us, this war could be over before it's ever even started?"

"The Mafia…" the leprechaun began, "they have been meeting in Magus Bazaar in the multipurpose building. They've persuaded the owner that his best interest is in joining them."

Jake nodded excitedly. "Do you know when they meet?"

"There is a meeting tomorrow at 4:00 pm," he replied quickly.

"Great!" Jake jumped up excited and turned to face everyone else in the room. Their eyes also held the same look of hope. "Thank you so much!" He shook hands with the leprechauns.

"Tomorrow," Jake began confidently, "Chang and Yanak won't even know what hit them."

**XX**

**Errrm. Not much to say. Sorry that it's been awhile.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~Ada**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11: A Reunited Mafia**

"Are you sure this is the place?" Rose stared up at the newly built brick building. "It looks too nice to be an evil lair."

Somewhere in the center of Magus Bazaar, Jake, Rose, and Fred stood outside the building where their enemies were believed to be hiding. As they planned on remaining hidden, they saw no need to bring more people along. They did not plan on fighting today. Their one and only goal was to get as much information as possible without being spotted.

Lao Shi, Fu Dog, Trixie, and Spud had remained at the shop to continue their research on the history and power of the Stones of the Theravata. However, if they needed backup, their friends were prepared to come to their aid in the blink of an eye.

Before they had left, Fu Dog had given Jake a special "bracelet" and told him that if they needed help, all he needed to do was press the button once and they'd be on their way over.

"Yup," Jake looked down at the sheet of paper the leprechauns had given him. "This is the place alright, but I don't really think this is their lair," he continued thoughtfully. "I think they just chose to put the meeting here so that it would be convenient for their little mafia members. I'm assuming most of them live here."

"Okay, Sherlock," Fred rolled his eyes. "Are we gonna do this or not?"

"Fred's right," Rose nodded in agreement. "Let's just get the information and get out."

Jake shrugged and transformed into his dragon form and picked up Rose. Fred did the same seconds later, and the three flew up a couple floors till they found an open window.

"I got this," Fred neared the window. "You two stay back. I'll check and see if it's clear."

Jake watched from a distance as Fred peeked in and took a quick look around.

"I don't see anyone in this hallway," he turned back to his friends. "I think we can go in."

Before Jake could even reply, Fred flew through the window and out of site. Jake followed seconds after.

When he landed inside, he immediately saw Fred hiding behind some boxes, and it was then he realized that there were footsteps headed their way.

"Quick!" Fred whispered motioning for them to come and hide.

Jake and Rose managed to reach Fred's hiding spot before they could be seen, and Jake carefully peeked through the boxes to see who it was.

The two ogres stopped walking and stood still at the end of the hallway. From his current position, Jake got a pretty good look at them both.

"Listen, Frank," one of them said to the other, "I'm really sorry to hear about your breakup with Cassie."

"It's okay, man," the ogre called Frank replied sadly. "I'll find another girl."

"So this is what Dark Mafia members talk about," Fred whispered to Jake, who smiled a little in return.

"We better get to the meeting," Frank changed the subject. "They won't be happy if we're late."

"You're right," the other replied. "I think it's this way," he pointed forward down the hallway.

"Come on," Jake left his hiding spot after the ogres were out of site and motioned for the two to follow him. "They said it was this way!"

Rose and Fred nodded, and the three walked quickly and cautiously down the now deserted hallway.

Eventually, they reached a room in which many different voices could be heard.

"This might be it," Jake whispered quietly. The door was not closed, but they had only left it open a crack.

Carefully, Jake peeked through the small opening to take a look at the creatures inside.

There were trolls, ogres, goblins, leprechauns, and creatures of all kinds chatting casually in the room.

"There are tons of them!" Jake's eyes widened as he looked over at his friend and girlfriend. "More than the original Dark Mafia!"

Rose shot him a look of concern before they focused their attention back on the room.

Jake looked closer and gasped at who he saw. "Chang and Yanak," he shot back to Fred and Rose.

"Gee I wonder what they're doing here," Fred replied sarcastically.

"Shut up, man," Jake fired back, "they are about to talk."

"Greetings magical creatures of every kind!" Chang began, and instantly the chatter died down until everyone's full attention was toward their leaders.

"It's too bad that not everyone was able to return to the Dark Mafia," she feigned a sad expression, "but it is wonderful to have you all here now, especially those of you who are new."

It was then that Jake noticed someone else in the room that he had not seen before...Long dark hair…dark heartless eyes…It couldn't be-

"Tarah?" He whispered in shock.

"What?" Rose replied pushing him a side to get a look for herself. Once her vision cleared, she saw that it was, indeed, Tarah sitting on the outside edge of the room, and she looked as cold and bitchy as ever.

"What's she doing here?" Rose asked Jake worriedly.

"No idea," Jake frowned back at her. "This is just looking worse and worse."

Chang cleared her throat. "I am pleased to inform you that we now have everything we need to proceed with our plan, and it's all thanks to you!"

She paused for a minute to let the mob of magical creatures cheer in excitement.

"I guarantee you all that by this time next month," she paused for effect, "the American Dragon will fall."

They cheered again, which gave Jake a moment to shoot his friends a wide-eyed worried glance. He felt Rose's grip tighten on his shoulder as he turned his attention back to Chang.

"And now that-" Chang stopped midsentence as her eyes focused in on something in the distance.

There was a brief, terrifying moment when her eyes locked with Jake's. No one moved. No one spoke. No one knew what was going on.

Chang tore her eyes away quickly, and almost instantly Jake moved away and hid behind the solid part of the door.

"I think she saw me," he whispered so lightly his friends could barely hear him. He breathing was shallow as he waited for Chang to speak once more, silently praying that she had not seen him.

"Well," Chang finally spoke, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "how nice of you to join us, American Dragon."

**XX**

**DUN DUN DUN DUN! Well, it wasn't a trap, but needless to say it didn't go well. **

**I shall now inform you all that I am going on vacation (YAY!) and will not be back till Monday, so I will not be writing, reviewing, or replying until that time. And if I never write, review, or reply again, something probably happened to me in Las Vegas. Lol. **

**Thank you much for reading!**

**~ada**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12: The Second Encounter**

"Run!" Jake shouted as he sprung up from his crouched position and spun around. Fred and Rose shot up shortly after, and Jake hurriedly grabbed onto their arms and pulled them forward.

He felt blast of heat hit the back of his legs. Looking back, he realized where they had been standing only seconds before had completely gone up in flames.

"Attack!" He heard Chang yell fiercely, and it took only a second for the three teens to be surrounded by the mafia on all sides.

Chang emerged from the now stilled group of magical creatures, a small smile tugging at the edge of her lips. Just behind her, Yanak stood waiting to attack.

"Creatures of the Dark Mafia," Chang began loudly for all to hear, "this is your chance to prove your worth and place in my army."

While Chang wasn't looking, Rose gently nudged Jake.

Not wanting to attract attention, Jake glanced at her from the corner of his eye. With her eyes, Rose motioned to the bracelet Jake was wearing around his wrist. The one Fu Dog had given them in case they ran into trouble and needed assistance.

Barely moving his head, Jake managed a small nod and casually pretended to scratch his left arm, carefully reaching toward the button in the process.

"Attack!" Chang finished her speech and pointed toward the outnumbered teens.

Now Jake could only hope Fu Dog's crazy bracelet worked properly.

**XX**

"You kids find anything yet?" Fu Dog walked into the room with a book hanging from his mouth. His words had barely been decipherable.

"What did he just say?" Trixie turned to ask her friend.

"He asked us if we found any bets," Spud replied simply.

"Bets?" Lao Shi walked into the room. "Fu Dog! What bets have you made?"

"I asked if the kids found anything!" The dog stuck his paws up defensively. "I haven't made any bets for two days! Yesh. You people."

Lao Shi sighed and shook his head. "Have any of you obtained any new information regarding the Theravata? Anything that may be helpful to us?"

"Nothing that we didn't know before," Trixie shook her head in frustration. "There has to be a better way to research information."

"There is," Fu replied simply. "Potato boy over there is surfing the web."

"Yup," Spud nodded proudly. "That's right, and there's some interesting stuff out here!"

"Like…ancient magical history interesting?" Trixie asked hesitantly.

"No…like Justin Bieber got a mohawk interesting!" Spud shot back in excitement.

"Ugggggh," Trixie rubbed her head. "Boy, please. Stick to the mission!"

"We have no time for such nonsense," Lao Shi agreed as he began to shuffle through the piles of books that lay scattered across the floor. "We must focus, or we could all be in great danger."

"It seems like the kid's been gone a long time," Fu Dog changed the subject. "I hope he's okay."

Lao Shi was also beginning to worry about his grandson and his friends. It had been almost three hours, and Jake had promised to keep in contact. No one had received any call or text message from Jake, Rose, or Fred since they left three hours prior. If they didn't return within the next half hour, Lao Shi decided that he would look for them himself.

"I hoped to have heard back from him by now," Lao Shi replied worriedly.

Soon after he spoke, the phone at the shop began to ring.

"That must be Jake!" Spud dived for the phone before anyone else could even register what was going on. "Hey buddy!" Spud shouted into the receiver. "Justin Bieber got a mohawk!"

"Umm," a voice could be heard on the other line, "this is Jason from Dish Network."

"Oh," Spud replied quietly. "Sorry man," he said hanging up the phone.

"Not Jake," he turned and told everyone else what they had already figured out.

"Fu," Trixie started. "What about that bracelet you gave Jake? Has it gone off or anything?"

"Yeeeah," Fu sunk down on the floor. "About that…I seem to have…misplaced mine."

"FU DOG!" Lao Shi yelled.

"What?" The magical guardian replied defensively. "I'm a dog. I make mistakes too you know."

Lao Shi sighed worriedly. "All we can do now is hope for the best." He sat down on the couch. Little did he know that there was a small lost bracelet underneath that very couch that was flashing red in alarm.

**XX**

Jake and Fred shifted into the dragon form at the same time as magical creatures of all sorts ran towards the three at full force. The first to reach them were thrown into the wall by Jake's tail with ease.

Standing directly behind them, Fred shot a line of fire at three ogres that were gaining in on Rose before getting punched in the back by a goblin with a club.

"There's too many of them," Jake shouted over the battle cries of his enemy. "We need to get out of here! Now!"

Though they were outnumbered, they continued to put up a fight against the inexperienced and unintelligent magical creatures in Chang's army.

Jake grunted as he felt a fist come in contact with his mouth full force. Instantly, the taste of blood filled his mouth as he pushed away another goblin.

Jake watched in horror as Rose was knocked to the ground by an ogre with an axe. The creature held the axe above his head and was about to attack when Jake slammed his tail into the monsters back angrily. He snuck a quick glance at Rose to make sure she was all right, but while he was distracted, a troll came up from behind and slugged him in the back.

Jake cursed. That one was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Soon he felt someone pulling him back away from the feuding creatures before him. He turned around and came face to face with Chang.

"American Dragon," she smirked evilly. "How nice to see you again."

Not letting her distract him for a second, Jake swung his tail around and sent her flying to the floor. In response, Chang shot fireballs back at him.

The two came in contact, and Jake clawed mercilessly at her neck, causing a grunt of pain from his enemy. In response, Chang lunged at him and threw him against the wall forcefully.

Drops of blood were now dripping freely from her neck, and Jake couldn't help but notice a small object hit the floor. A necklace. Instinctively, he picked it up and closed it inside his hand when Chang wasn't looking.

Noticing that many of the mafia members were now injured or lay unconscious on the ground, Jake took the opportunity to run back over to his friends.

"Guys!" He grabbed their arms. "Let's get out of here!"

Chang was distracted with her injuries, and the Mafia was now escapable. The three ran out of an opening between creatures and into the open hallway, where they quickly found the way they had come from.

They heard footsteps chasing after them, but they continued to run until they reached the window they had entered through.

"Come on!" Jake yelled grabbing Rose with both arms and jumping out the window into the free, open air.

The three flew off as quickly as possible, not even chancing a look back in the opposite direction.

**XX**

**Sorry for the little delay. I'm just having a hard time sitting down and writing at the moment. Hoping it will get better soon. **

**School's starting again now so updates may be a little slower from me. I'm aiming for my once a week Friday thing again. Hoping it will all work out. I'm gonna start that hopefully next Friday. Since I'm updating now. **

**Thank you all so much for your support!**

**~ada**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13: The Secret of the Necklace**

"We could have been _killed!_" Jake glared angrily at his magical guardian.

Fu Dog shrunk down in shame. "It's really not as bad as it seems," he defended himself. "At least all three of you are still alive and only suffered minor injuries."

Jake clenched his jaw, trying to contain his anger. He knew Fu Dog had the right intentions, and it was normal for him to make mistakes from time to time, but this was too much. This was extremely serious. The outcome of his error could have easily been catastrophic.

"The important thing," Rose noticed how upset Jake had become, "is that everything turned out okay. And," she added quickly, "we got a peek at the new army."

"Oh," Jake changed the subject as something jumped into his mind. "Speaking of the mafia, guess who they convinced…er…bribed…er…somehow someway got to join?"

Fu thought about it for a minute before he shrugged. "No idea. Just tell me," he replied simply. "Nothing surprises me anymore," he added quietly.

Jake paused for a moment. "Do you remember the girl that the huntsman replaced Rose with?"

Fu's eyes grew wide. "Tarah?" He shook his head in disbelief. "How could anyone take one look into her eyes and forget about her. I still have nightmares sometimes."

"Well," Jake shook his head at his magical guardian, "she was there."

Fu paused for a minute. "What?" It was delayed, but he did manage to overcome his shock and reply.

"Yeah," Jake replied without a trace of hope in his voice. "We're screwed."

"Kid, are you sure?" Fu Dog gave Jake a questionable look. "I mean, what motives could she possibly have for joining a team of dragons? Tarah hates dragons!"

"I don't know Fu," Jake looked down at the floor, "but I don't like it."

His words were followed by a short period of silence in which everyone took in what was going on. After what they had encountered so far, winning wasn't looking probable.

"I guess…" Rose began, "the one dragon she hates more than anyone else would probably be Jake."

"Gee, thanks," Jake laughed a little.

"So maybe," she continued, "Tarah would do anything just to get her hands on him, even if that meant working with other dragons."

"She's a cold-hearted woman," Jake narrowed his eyes. "As soon as she gets what she wants, she'll turn against them. Don't they see that their plan is just going to blow up in their faces?"

"Jake!" Trixie and Spud walked into the room, and Lao Shi followed shortly after.

"You're alive!" Spud threw his hands up in the air. "And guess what?"

Jake smiled a little. No matter how stupid Spud could act, he was glad he had a friend that could always cheer him up a bit.

"What?" Jake asked. "Is this something that's gonna help us? Find any good information on the internet?"

"You bet I did!" Spud grinned. "Justin Bieber got a mohawk!"

"Okaaaay," Jake replied. "Let me rephrase that; did you find anything interesting regarding the Theravata on the internet?"

"Ummm not so much," Spud admitted. "Just the stuff that we already know."

Off to the side, Lao Shi was fiddling with the remote in hopes of getting his television to work.

"I need to watch the Magic Channel!" He practically screamed at the tv. "How am I supposed to know what is going on in the magical world if I cannot see the magical news?" He sighed. "I am just not understanding why my Dish Network is not working."

Everyone simply shrugged in reply. However, no one saw the look of guilt written all over Spud's face.

Lao Shi mumbled something in Chinese before giving up. He set the remote down on the table and walked over to the couch where Jake sat.

"Grandson," he began, "I am certainly glad that you all returned unharmed. I know that your mission was not a complete success do to someone's (he shot a glare at Fu Dog) irresponsibility, however, I must ask; did you learn anything new at all about the enemy? Anything at all?"

"Ehh," Jake rubbed the back of his head, "apart from Tarah joining, not really." He thought about it a little more, and then he suddenly remembered something he had almost forgotten about.

"Wait!" He reached into his pocket and felt around awhile before he pulled out a necklace. It was beautiful; a ruby colored gem in the shape of a diamond. It was glistening in the sunlight from the window, and it was hanging from a thin, golden chain.

"I found this," Jake held it out for his grandfather to observe. "It fell from Chang. I don't know if it's relevant or not, but something told me that I needed to pick it up."

Lao Shi took it from Jake's hands and examined it very carefully, turning it every which way for at least five minutes before he finally spoke.

"Jake," he handed him back the necklace. "Turn the pendant upside-down and look very very carefully. What do you see?"

Jake took the necklace back and slowly and steadily turned it upside down. "I'll be honest, Gramps, I don't see anything."

"Try it again," Lao Shi told him. "Look harder."

Jake nodded. "Eye of the dragon," he said, and he felt his vision increase dramatically. Once again, he turned the small jewel upside-down very slowly, and this time, he could see little grains of sand inside.

"Wow," Jake replied, simply fascinated by the small object. "It's almost like some sort of hourglass. Almost like a…a," he paused for a minute to search for the right word, "a time turner of some sort."

"Young dragon," Lao Shi's voice suddenly turned very serious, "it is very important that you know exactly who this came from. Are you 100% sure that this necklace belonged to Chang?"

"Yeah," Jake wasn't quite sure where his grandfather was going with this. "Why?"

"You are right about one thing young dragon," the man replied approvingly, "this necklace has the ability to give one the advantage of time travel, however," Lao Shi took the necklace back from his grandson, "it also has another ability. One so rare I have only seen it once before."

Jake gave his friends a look, and for a moment, his eyes locked with Fred's. Fred had remained completely silent throughout the past few minutes, and yet, Jake knew from the look in his eyes that Fred was just as clueless as he was.

"This necklace," Lao Shi held it up for everyone to see, "has properties that allow the person wearing it to retain their youth forever."

**XX**

**Sorry this took me so long. Life these days. Lol. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**~Ada**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow….Umm…Haven't updated this since September. DAAAYUM. I'm just going to do a little recap here to remind everyone of what's been going down in this story. If anyone is even still reading…**

**Chang and Yanak stole the stones of the Theravata, which have incredible powers. It's basically the power source of the magical world. Then they find this book, which is supposed to tell them how to use the stones powers to their advantages. Then they decided that they want a bigger army to continue their plans…So Jake and the Gang spy on said army and get caught…they somehow manage to escape, and Jake picked up Chang's necklace, which he found on the ground. The gang discovers that it's some sort of time turner. AND…most importantly, Justin Bieber got a mohawk. :) Ohh Spud. **

**Chapter 14: Premonitions of the Night **

"A time turner," Jake mumbled under his breath. He ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the couch in silence for a moment.

"How did Chang get a time turner?" Jake asked. It was one of many unanswered questions floating through his head.

"As far as I know, kid, there are only three in existence," Fu Dog replied.

"Think about it though," Rose broke in, "it makes a lot of sense really. Every time she stumbles across a question of the past, she can just go back and look for the answer. It's no wonder she found the book so fast."

"Except now she can't," Jake swung the necklace back and forth.

"Why don't we just go back into the past and try to figure this whole thing out?" Trixie shrugged.

"That would not be wise," Lao Shi responded. "One small alteration to the past could destroy the entire future."

"I think gramps is right," Jake nodded in agreement. "I've messed with the past before, and it didn't work out so well. I think it's possible for us to figure this whole thing out without time traveling."

"Hang on…another question," Rose raised her hand up and turned to Lao Shi. "Didn't you also say that this necklace has the power to keep someone alive forever?"

"Yes," Lao Shi pulled a book of the shelf and opened it to a page containing information on this particular necklace. A picture of the magnificent, glowing jewel popped up out of the book as Lao Shi began to read.

"The crystal of the Tanoens started out as an ordinary crystal being mined. Then, a northern pixie tribe discovered a rare magical element that would give the crystal the ability to transcend the boundaries of time and space. This magical element, which remains unknown to this day, was so rare, that only three such powerful crystals were ever made," he finished the central paragraph.

"Wow," Jake looked down at the necklace in his hand.

"It seems like there is very little information on this," Rose noted as she peered over Lao Shi's shoulder to get a better look at the words on the page.

"Indeed," Lao Shi agreed. "It would be difficult to find more information on an article so ancient and forgotten."

"It also says down here that the necklace has the power to time travel and retain youth forever," Fu Dog pointed to the bottom of the page. "Basically stuff we already know."

"Alright, well…this is getting a little over my head," Trixie shook her head. "I think I'm gonna go home now," she turned to walk toward the door, closely followed by Spud, who had also remained quiet throughout the conversation. Fred, who would be staying at the shop, also gave a slight nod of his head before retreating to his room.

"You should both get some rest as well," Lao Shi turned to Jake and Rose, who were the only ones left apart from Fu Dog.

Jake nodded in agreement.

"How Chang managed to get this necklace, I do not know," Lao Shi stated solemnly.

Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This whole thing was turning into one big mess.

**XX**

"Man, I thought summer would start out a lot better than this," Jake mumbled as he walked through the empty streets of New York alongside Rose.

It was only 9:00. It was strange to see almost no traffic at all and almost no one else walking on the sidewalk.

As strange as it was, however, Jake was thankful for it. Anymore, it was hard for him to walk around the city without someone recognizing him. Ever since the magical world had become known to humans, his picture along with those of his magical friends seemed to be constantly popping up all over the news. It wasn't hard to run into someone that knew exactly who…and what…he was.

And they always made it so obvious. The stare…shortly followed by the whisper to the person next to them…then the brief eye contact made before they broke their gaze and tried to pretend like nothing had happened at all.

Jake was sick of it. He was sick of all of it. The constant mess that was the magical world…the threat of destruction from Chang…the knowledge that things in his normal "human" life would never return to normal. It was too much for him to take. He was, after all, just a kid.

Rose didn't even have to ask what was wrong. She could sense that he was bothered by all of this, and she certainly couldn't blame him. He was hardly that funny, confident kid that she fell in love with.

"Do you," she began slowly, "do you remember that carnival we went to not too long ago? How much fun we had?"

"Yeah," he gave her a questioning look.

"That's what summer should be about," she continued. The two had momentarily stopped walking.

"Too bad things never work out like that for me," Jake laughed sarcastically.

"We should do something," she got right to the point.

He gave her the "you're crazy" look in return.

She sighed and pulled out her cell phone. "It's only 9:00, Jake. Come on! Just something real quick to get your mind off of all of this. We could…umm…"

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Ro-"

"What kind of stuff did you have planned for us this summer?" She interrupted, ignoring his previous comment completely.

"Bsh…I dunno," he shrugged. "Late night chats at the top of the Empire State Building, pulling the old yawn move at the movie theater downtown, buying a smoothie, putting two straws in it, and starting at each other all googley-eyed while holding hands like couples do in the movies…"

She burst out laughing, and he couldn't help but break into a smile himself.

"You know," she wiped away the tears from her laughter, "I kind of like the googely-eyed smoothie idea. Let's go."

"But Rose-"

"Come on, Dragon Boy," she drug him along by the arm.

**XX**

_2:00 am _

Jake Long tossed and turned in his sleep as the same images passed through his mind over and over again in great detail. Each picture…each little thing he saw flash across his eyes seemed so detailed…almost too realistic to be a dream.

_Sunlight being scattered by the deep blue crystal lake. _

_A girl with her back to him…jet straight black hair shining in the sun and blowing gently in the breeze. _

Jake thrashed around again, becoming frustrated at not being able to see her face.

_Red. _

_An oddly familiar jewel being held out in her hand, face still hidden behind her long, silky black hair. _

"Chang's necklace," Jake said aloud, still in a deep mode of sleep.

_Her hand closing in around the small jewel. _

_The raise of her arm, and the motion that followed…_

_Backward…forward…_

_The small red gem flying through the air and hitting the water with almost no sound at all. _

_The sinking of the precious jewel…down down…deeper and deeper…until it could no longer be seen._

_The rippling of the surface. _

_Running…her running…into the trees. _

_And she was gone. _

Jake shot up in bed with a gasp as he tried to process what he had just seen.

Everything was so clear…everything was so…familiar. As if he had seen it…or at least heard it…before.

This was no ordinary dream. Someone or something was trying to tell him something.

Jake ran a hand through his hair, finally noticing the beads of sweat that were dripping down his chin. He reached for the water bottle that he kept at his bedside and took a drink as he processed what he had just witnessed.

"Someone," he thought to himself, "someone didn't want that necklace to be found."

**XX**

**Yes…I am still writing this. No…I will not allow this to go unfinished. I'm too stubborn to let that happen. :) Yes…I am very sorry that this is a mess…I am just trying to get back into this right now. Hopefully the next chapters will get a little bit better. **

**And yes…I am going to update Insider soon. :) Hope I answered all of your questions…and I am, once again, very sorry for not updating this for so long. **

**Thank you for sticking with this! :)**

**~Ada**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 15: Of Haunted Cats and Magic Lakes**

Five teenagers, an old man, and an ugly dog walking into a Starbucks in New York City.

In all likelihood, it was probably a very strange sight to see.

The sight most likely got a little stranger yet when the dog proceeded to stand up on two legs and order a frappuccino.

"Yes I'll have a mocha frappe please, hold the whipped cream," Fu Dog gave his order to the slightly frightened young woman behind the counter. "I'm trying to put off a few pounds," he patted his belly.

"I don't think Starbucks is going to help that, mate," Fred stepped aside along with Fu Dog.

"Oh boy what do I want?" Spud tapped his finger against his chin. "There are like…so many choices…I don't know what to choose."

"Seriously, Spud," Jake folded his arms across his chest. "What do you usually get?"

"Oh!" The variety of foods behind the counter stole his attention immediately. "I'll just have that brownie!" Spud pointed to the giant chocolate brownie behind the counter.

Spud handed her a five dollar bill and the lady gave him the brownie along with his change.

Once everyone had their coffee (or brownie), they pulled some extra chairs around a table and sat down.

They had chosen to come to Starbucks for two reasons. One, they all wanted coffee, and Starbucks had sounded really good! Jake, Rose, Trixie, and Spud hung out in this particular Starbucks all the time, and they thought that it would be a good place to go. The second reason was simply because they all wanted to get out of the shop for a change. After all, since none of their magical talk was a secret anymore, they could go talk wherever they wanted.

"So Jake," Rose broke the silence before taking a sip of her coffee, "you said you had something important to discuss with us?"

Jake's mind drifted back to the dream he had had the previous night. Even now, it seemed so real to him. The more he thought about it, the more he started to believe that it meant so much more.

"Well," he began slowly, "I had a really weird…dream…last night."

"No way, bro!" Spud cut in almost instantly. "I had a weird dream too!"

"Spud that's-"

"Want to hear about it?" Spud interrupted and proceeded in explaining his dream without giving anyone the chance to even answer the question.

"Okay, so…there was this haunted cat," he began ignoring the eye rolls coming from everyone else, "and it was wondering around on the streets of New York right outside my house. It was really starting to freak me out…So I killed it and buried it in the woods somewhere."

"But then," he held out his hands dramatically. "It came back to life! And it returned to wander around outside my house. So I killed it again…and it came back again! And I killed it again…and again and again…and it just kept coming back! And then, at the end of the dream," he paused dramatically, "I woke up, and it was in my BED!"

After a moment of silence, Trixie spoke. "Spud…how did your mind EVER come up with THAT?"

"I don't know, I've had some pretty weird dreams before," Fu Dog came to his defense. "I once had a dream that I was being chased by a giant pair of nail clippers."

"That's pretty weird too," Jake smiled a little, "but I still think the zombie cat dream is pretty crazy."

"Jake! It's a HAUNTED cat…not a ZOMBIE cat," Spud corrected him.

"Okay," Rose interrupted, "now that everyone has had a chance to share their weirdest dreams, can we please hear about Jake's dream?"

Everyone became silent and turned their attention to Jake.

"Okay," Jake began. "So there was this girl with long black hair, and I couldn't see her face. She had Chang's necklace. The time turner thingy. And she threw it into a lake."

"That's…that's it?" Fu Dog asked.

"Dude, that is SO not cooler than my haunted cat dream," Spud added.

"I don't think you guys understand," Jake replied, slightly frustrated. "It was so detailed. I could tell you every single little detail about it. It was nowhere near as vague as most of my dreams…it almost seemed like a…a…"

"Premonition," Lao Shi finished for him.

Jake hesitated. "Is that possible, Gramps? Aren't oracles the only ones with the ability to do that?"

"Any creature or being of any sort with magical blood is capable of seeing visions of the past, present, and future," Lao Shi explained. "Oracles see common visions for the most part. Simple things in life good or bad, and occasionally, they make a prophecy."

"Typically, when a dragon has a vision, it holds a lot more meaning than when an oracle has a vision," Lao Shi continued to explain.

"Take Kara and Sara for example," Fu Dog cut in. "Most of the stuff they spit out is just silly stuff."

"Like that Trixie and I are going to tie the knot!" Spud blurted out.

An awkward silence followed his little outburst before Jake spoke. "Yeeeeeah," he said slowly. "Stuff like that. Anyway, Gramps," Jake motioned for him to continue.

"This dream of yours could have very well been a vision of great importance, young dragon," Lao Shi continued. "I strongly encourage you to keep an open mind and perhaps meditate on what it could mean."

Jake nodded as silence fell over the group once more. This matter was becoming more and more serious. Even members of the human world were beginning to pick up some sort of tension going on in the magical world. Jake had a feeling that this conflict, whether they win or lose, would be over within a matter of days.

"You know," Spud finally broke the silence, "I also had a dream that I raced Chuck Norris in a track meet and won."

**XX**

Chang took a look around at the creatures that consisted of her army. It was truly pathetic that with of their numbers, they still managed to let the American Dragon escape.

That was why she and Yanak had spent the last few days training up the army to become even better.

Her moment of victory was coming close, but she had to be patient. In order for her to succeed, she needed to make sure that nothing would stand in her way.

There was, however, one thing that had been bothering her for the past few days. Her necklace seemed to be missing.

She wasn't entirely sure at what point she had lost it, but she knew that she needed to get it back. She had a part of her army on the search for it, but something told her that it had somehow fallen into the possession of the enemy.

And if that was the case, she would need to get it back. Her life depended on it.

However, as she looked around the room at the army she had managed to build, the worry began to fade. Everything was going exactly as planned, and if it continued to be that way, she would get her necklace back.

The American Dragon would fall.

**XX**

**Wow…I see they changed the review button…again. Lol. Sorry that this is a little on the short side. **

**Thanks again to everyone who has stuck with me on this one…I appreciate all of you readers and reviewers. :) I will update Insider before I update this again. Hopefully, and Insider update will be coming within the next two weeks. :D **

**Thanks again!**

**~ada**


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